The Playhouse Cellar is a very different space from what it was in August, when “The Little Dog Laughed” played there.

The raised stage is gone, opening up the playing space considerably. So is the aging carpet, replaced with brand-new carpeting. The walls have been painted a deep, rich purple. And the dressing rooms have gotten a makeover, too.

The comedy, which follows an unpopular incumbent president (Gary Hoeffler) facing a rocky road to re-election, strikes Thornton as lighter than Mamet's typical fare.

“It's very silly,” he said. “Usually, his plays are more edgy. Not to say this doesn't have a dark side, but maybe he's getting to the dark side in a different way.”

The play bears similarities to “Ugly People,” an Overtime Theater dark comedy in which Thornton played a presidential candidate who appears outwardly to be trustworthy but harbors some unsavory secrets.

“They're both about the kind of corruption that power can bring,” he said. “The president in ‘November' is such a great character because he's not all evil, he's not all stupid; he's very complicated. He seems cruel, and then, in other ways, he's sensitive and thoughtful. He's hard to pigeonhole as one thing or another.”

“Gary is so genuine and unassuming,” he said. “Gary is also someone that people would vote for in an election — someone you could trust, someone you might want to hang out with and have a Coke with and talk to. He has a really great quality.”